New to Swimming Laps

BradyPug

Okay so I have worked on my freestyle stroke and breathing the past while and now want to be able to swim some laps for fun and exercise. Nothing crazy or intense, just a moderate workout a couple of times a week. Any advice on how to start - maybe a beginner routine that will help build endurance so I can do more than one lap at a time :-) as well as any gear ideas. Anything is appreciated. Thanks all.

BrianSharpe

If you follow a structured program you'll amaze yourself with what you can accomplish, I could barely swim 100m when I signed up for my tri club's program. This year (in addition to a few triathlons) I did a 3km (approx 2 mi) swim in the Ottawa River.

Depending on how much time you have and how far you can swim right now you could start of with simply swimming one lap, resting 15 to 30 seconds depending on what you need, & repeat. After a couple of swims you could add a couple of 100m swims into the set and gradually build on that until you're swimming your goal distance.

Here's a link with some workout suggestions.

https://fitnessmagazine.com/workout/swimming/swimming-pool-workouts/

I also picked up this book through Amazon

https://amazon.ca/gp/product/1931382743/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Some pools will have kickboards & pull buoys available, some you may have to supply your own. A good set of goggles is worthwhile too. Persoanlly I'm partial to the Aqua Sphere Vista goggles, they have larger but very comfortable silicon skirt and I found them less claustrophobic for swimming in open water with poor visibility.

Have fun!

brendanwhite84

Ruth Kazez's free and simple Zero to 1650 plan worked for me. Google it.

Make sure you buy good goggles. Leaky ones suck.

BradyPug

Thanks for the advice. Will definitely check out the links/google some stuff. @BrianSharpe .... so maybe I should start with a lap of the Rideau Canal

DanielleFayeS

I third the goggles. I enjoy having a waterproofed ipod shuffle.

beerfoamy

I'd say take your time for sure as when you are tired, form goes a bit to pot!
I started back at swimming around 3 years ago and was swimming 30 lengths (25m pool) in 35 minutes with breaststroke. Added 2 front crawl/freestyle and thought I would die. Each day I added a front crawl length. So I would be taking more breaks to recover and reset my form but swimming more front crawl 'in a row' if that makes sense. After few months I was at 30 front crawl solid in 25 mins.

Now, after increasing number of laps regularly and a couple of you tube tips about stroke I have done 5km in 1hr45 and my regular swim is 1km in 20mins. When I have more time in the mornings I do 2.5km and alternate using my hand fins and the pull buoy.

I still swim for enjoyment rather than pushing myself to get much faster though.

The pull buoy is good to get leg and body alignment while working your arms and I like the hand fins as they make it feel like you are just zooming through the water! (I was told to be careful with them when I started as using them with poor form can lead to shoulder issues.......fair warning! )

BrianSharpe

BradyPug wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. Will definitely check out the links/google some stuff. @BrianSharpe .... so maybe I should start with a lap of the Rideau Canal

I think Lake Ontario may be a little cleaner!

Jthanmyfitnesspal

I truly benefited from stroke coaching at the start. It's amazing how much efficiency you pick up with small adjustments to your stroke. It's not like running, where you will develop your own natural stride. Swimming isn't all that natural!

YosemiteSlamAK

I think the link Brian gave you was a good one. The beginner workout is a good structure for where you are saying you are. I would disregard the time per lap though. I would say rest for 30 seconds at the end of each lap and try to decrease the rest time periodically (maybe each week or every second week reduce rest period by 5 seconds) until you reach 15 seconds of rest.
You could also maintain the rest period and try to reduce the time per lap. What I mean is if it took you 65 seconds to swim a lap and you rested for 25 seconds that interval would be 90 seconds. If you decrease your lap time to 63 seconds either maintain the rest time at 25 seconds (if you can do the math, this gets easier with practice) or drop the interval to 85 seconds until you reach the 25 second rest time again.

fishgutzy

Don't follow what I did. Ha!
First time I got back in the pool to try adding it for fitness I made 6 laps before getting exhausted. It was weeks before I tried again.
It took me about 2 years to get up to a mile. That was mainly because I was inconsistent.
Spent about a decade swimming a mile sporadically.
When my weight climbed over 300, I got motivated to change.
One thing that helped me rebuild my endurance and unproven my technique was zip fins. The first time I did 125 laps with the fins I decided it was time to wean myself of them.
A 90 video on the catchup drill helped me improve my stroke and decreased my stroke per length don't.
Today, I swim 4 miles a day before work when I'm home. Longer in weekends.
Did 10km yesterday at a 20m pool in Hangzhou China.
I've never been on a swim team. Never been particularly athletic. So I figure if I can build my swooning endurance, anybody can.
After all, anyone can do just one more lap.

fishgutzy

Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »

I truly benefited from stroke coaching at the start. It's amazing how much efficiency you pick up with small adjustments to your stroke. It's not like running, where you will develop your own natural stride. Swimming isn't all that natural!

I found YouTube to be quite useful in improving my stroke. The catchup drill video was the big fist improvement. I had still been doing the most basic form I learned as kid some 4 decades earlier. Getting the stretch and reaching out made a big difference.

fishgutzy

BrianSharpe wrote: »

Some pools will have kickboards & pull buoys available, some you may have to supply your own. A good set of goggles is worthwhile too. Persoanlly I'm partial to the Aqua Sphere Vista goggles, they have larger but very comfortable silicon skirt and I found them less claustrophobic for swimming in open water with poor visibility.

Have fun!

Love Aquasphere goggles. Truly no fog. I've tried some more expensive brands but stick with Aquasphere now.
I ended up buying my own kick board and pull buoy on Amazon. Both are Speedo brand. The ones at my Y were in the small side.

BradyPug

Many thanks again for all the helpful responses. I am going to get out and get a better pair of goggles than the ones I have. I will check out some You Tube videos on improving my stroke and go from there with a good beginner structure. Maybe a pull bouy might be a help as well though I have enough “drag” already from my swim shorts. Back at it Monday so will see how it goes. Thanks all

fishgutzy

Check out Roka jammers. They are the longest laying and midst durable jammer i have found.
Pull Buoy is kind of misnamed. It provides buoyancy to keep your legs up while you do drills that focus on upper body technique.

BradyPug

Had a pair of jammers once but didn’t find them comfortable .... but i guess be better than regular swim shorts for sure

YosemiteSlamAK

fishgutzy wrote: »

Pull Buoy is kind of misnamed. It provides buoyancy to keep your legs up while you do drills that focus on upper body technique.

Exactly. The purpose is to provide buoyancy when you do pull drills. If you are wearing shorts, they will naturally pull you down/create drag, all the more reason for the added buoyancy of the pull buoy. If your pool doesn't have pull buoys, you can always use a kickboard held between your thighs or calves.

BradyPug

Ok so it sounds like I should ditch the shorts (and go with jammers or a speedo) and get a pull buoy and work more on my upper body stroke

Bruceapple

Join out group here called: "Swimmers!".
Lot of advice for beginners and experienced swimmers.

lorrpb

Bruceapple wrote: »

Join out group here called: "Swimmers!".
Lot of advice for beginners and experienced swimmers.

@Bruceapple Can you post a link to this group? I could not find one by that name when I searched group. I joined Fitness Swimmers last year but it's not a very active group. Thx.

BradyPug

Just joined the group, thanks. Looks like a lot of threads to read through for ideas and tips.

@lorrpb Search Swimmers and its on second page, the last group listed

lorrpb

Found it. I used a different search button this time.

KettleTO

Noting beats a stroke improvement/adult training swim program for improvement, focus and breaking the monotony of swimming laps. Plus doing the same thing as swimmers who are roughly the same speed saves you a whole truckload of lane rage. So much of swimming is about your stroke and efficiency (energy is expended propelling you forward rather than laterally). If that kind of program isn't an option, there are some good stroke improvement videos on youtube. I've been checking-in with some (and shoulder stability exercises) now that I've started back with a formalized training program after an injury.

From my own personal observation, adults who didn't competitive swim as kids struggle most with body positioning. For men, it seems to be sinking legs. Working on body position so your legs are high and you are kicking from your hips rather than your knees, is more important than building strength in your pull. Men tend to have the upper body strength to pull themselves through the water despite the sinking legs. If my lane mate could kick more from his hips he'd smoke me. Of course, I would no longer be able to recover on the kick sets as much.

Also don't be afraid of the other strokes. Try to at least incorporate some back and breast into your workouts to recruit different muscles and to break up the sets of free that everyone wants to do.

Good luck.